Wasatch Advisors LP Has $63.97 Million Stake in Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 404,654 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 44,935 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 0.92% of Granite Construction worth $63,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Granite Construction by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 6,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 4.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on GVA shares. Stephens assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,781. This represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,150 shares of company stock valued at $156,636. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of GVA stock opened at $125.43 on Wednesday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $97.26 and a 52-week high of $162.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.10 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.25 and its 200-day moving average is $130.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is currently -12.06%.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Inc is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer based in Watsonville, California. The company specializes in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects for government and private clients, focusing on the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of transportation, water resource and industrial facilities. Its turnkey solutions span the full project lifecycle, from preconstruction and design-build to construction management and facilities maintenance.

In its construction segment, Granite undertakes highway and bridge building, airport runway and taxiway construction, marine terminal and port improvements, dam and reservoir projects, transit systems and underground utilities.